agenda  workshops  speakers  sponsors  exhibitors

Maggie Rinehart Ayres, PT, PhD, is an associate professor of physical therapy and director of clinical education at Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson College of Health Professions in Philadelphia. She is an advocate of the need for rehabilitation for people with cancer. She is a member of the oncology section of the American Physical Therapy Association, chair of the publications committee and the past vice president and treasurer. She was honored by the oncology section with the Ms. Thaler-DeMers Flommenhoft Oncology Award in 1995 for compassionate care provided to individuals diagnosed with cancer and the 2000 Jeri F. Walton Service Award. Dr. Rinehart Ayres has volunteered for the American Cancer Society and the Reach to Recovery Program since her diagnosis with breast cancer at age 28.

 Jennifer Armstrong, MD, is a breast oncologist with Paoli Hematology Oncology Associates in Paoli, Pennsylvania. She founded and co-facilitated a training group for medical oncology fellows that focuses on communication skills, and she was a member of a steering group at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center that works to improve physicians’ communication and cultural awareness skills. Among her publications is Fellow Suffering, an article published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology based on her work with the medical oncology fellows. She is a member of Living Beyond Breast Cancer’s board of directors.

 Sage Annaleise Bolte, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C, is an oncology counselor at Life With Cancer, an Inova Health System nonprofit program in Northern Virginia, where she has helped develop a program that addresses the needs of people impacted by advanced (metastatic) breast cancer. She provides individual and family counseling, facilitates cancer and partner support groups and offers educational seminars on sexuality and intimacy. Ms. Bolte has presented at local, regional and national conferences on the impact of chronic illness on sexuality, intimacy and sexual function and ways that people affected by cancer and healthcare professionals can address common problems. Upon completion of her PhD, she hopes to further the training of oncology social workers in the area of sexuality and utilize her training in an oncology clinical practice and at the university level.

Keynote speaker Keith I. Block, MD, is an internationally recognized integrative cancer treatment specialist, researcher and educator. A leader in laying the foundation for what is now called integrative medicine, he is medical/scientific director of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment, which he co-founded in 1980. Block Center uses research-based treatment methodologies that integrate the best of Western medicine with scientifically sound complementary therapies. Dr. Block is a member of the National Cancer Institute’s Physician Data Query Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine Editorial Board, the editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal Integrative Cancer Therapies and director of integrative medical education at the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He is the author of more than 60 PubMed-listed scientific articles and has contributed to the published works of other medical and science professionals. He serves on Living Beyond Breast Cancer’s medical advisory board.    

Keynote speaker Zora Brown is director of health and cultural affairs and special assistant to the CEO at INTEGRIS Health in Oklahoma City. She coordinates the Business Health Leadership Institute and the Oklahoma Chronic Disease Initiatives. Ms. Brown is founder and chairperson of Cancer Awareness Program Services, a comprehensive cancer prevention program focusing on awareness and education targeting women, particularly women of color. She is founder of several groups that serve African-American women, including the Breast Cancer Resource Committee, Rise, Sister, Rise and SASSi™ (Sisters Accessing Skills for Survival and Intervention). In 1996, she organized Men in Action Against Breast Cancer, a support arm of the Breast Cancer Resource Committee. Ms. Brown was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to the National Cancer Advisory Board, National Cancer Institute, where she served from 1991 until 1998. She was a featured speaker at the 1992 and 2004 Republican National Conventions. Along with Oprah Winfrey, she was named one of the 1997 ten Women’s Health Heroes in American Health for Women (a Readers Digest publication). Ms. Brown is a 26-year survivor of bilateral breast cancer and an ovarian cancer survivor.

Luanne Chynoweth, LCSW, is the assistant director of social work service at Fox Chase Cancer Center. She provides supportive counseling to people dealing with cancer, and she develops and facilitates support groups for hospital staff members stressed by exposure to sadness and uncertainty. She also coordinates and co-facilitates groups for school-aged children and their parents. Ms. Chynoweth recently discussed talking with children about cancer on NBC’s “Today” show. She is the co-author of Caring for Patients with Cancer: Thoughts from two experienced oncology social workers, which appeared in the March/April 2007 issue of Oncology Issues. She has spoken about communicating about cancer and emotions associated with cancer at several events at Fox Chase. Ms. Chynoweth is a member of the Association of Oncology Social Work and the National Association of Social Workers.

Helen L. Coons, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who specializes in women’s health and mental health. She is the president and clinical director of Women’s Mental Health Associates, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Drexel University College of Medicine, and adjunct faculty in the department of psychiatry at Pennsylvania Hospital, University of Pennsylvania Health System. Her practice is dedicated to helping women cope with health, mental health, relationship, sexual and professional concerns and improving the well-being of women facing cancer. She received the 2001 American Psychological Association Committee on Women in Psychology Emerging Leader Award, and she was awarded the 2005 American Psychological Foundation Timothy B. Jeffrey Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Health Psychology. Her own experience with breast cancer also allows her to understand the challenges women and their loved ones face.

R. Clinton Crews, MPH, is the project director and trainer for Men Against Breast Cancer’s Partners In Survival national project. He has been employed by Eastern Virginia Medical School since 1992. He has held a variety of positions, including epidemiologist, health planner, epidemiology research coordinator, senior research coordinator, project coordinator and medical education program director of surgical assistant programs. Mr. Crews has utilized his training in public health policy and administration with the office of the surgeon general, the Virginia Department of Health’s division of maternal and child health, local health departments and health coalitions in Virginia. He has served as a consultant for coalition development focusing on the areas of needs assessment, health planning techniques and evaluation.

Leanne Fannin, MSW, is a clinical social worker at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. She came to Moffitt in the fall of 2003 as a social work intern and was added to the clinical social work staff in 2005. She has a special interest in working with the children of people with cancer and is active in Moffitt’s Families First program. She is a member of the Association of Oncology Social Workers and the Florida Society of Oncology Social Workers and has spoken at local and national conferences on various psychosocial topics. Ms. Fannin received her master’s degree in social work at the University of South Florida in 2005.   

Anthony Fulginiti, MSW, is a clinical social worker in the palliative care program at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. He has co-facilitated a support group for caregivers and family and friends of people with cancer for approximately two years. Mr. Fulginiti is a member of the Association of Oncology Social Workers, the Florida Society of Oncology Social Workers and Psi Chi, the national honor society in psychology. He is the regional coordinator for the Tampa region of the Florida Society of Oncology Social Workers. Mr. Fulginiti has presented on a myriad of subjects in a host of diverse venues, and he recently provided a lecture on the importance of caregiver and family involvement in advanced care planning. He was recognized with the Award of Excellence at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in 2007.

Patricia A. Ganz, MD, is a professor at the UCLA Schools of Medicine and Public Health. She is the director of the division of cancer prevention and control research at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she directs the UCLA Family Cancer Registry and Genetic Evaluation Program. Dr. Ganz is a pioneer in the assessment of quality of life in people with cancer, and she is active in clinical trials research with the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project. She has focused her clinical and research efforts in breast cancer and prevention, and she was a member of the National Cancer Institute Progress Review Group on Breast Cancer. Her areas of research include cancer survivorship and late effects of treatment, cancer in the elderly and quality of care. She is an associate editor for the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and CA-A Journal for Clinicians.

Karen Horton, MD, is a board certified plastic surgeon and reconstructive microsurgeon practicing in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco. She is trained in reconstruction of the breast following breast cancer using microsurgical techniques, and she has extensive experience with the DIEP flap, the SIEA flap and the TUG (inner thigh) flap for immediate and delayed reconstruction following mastectomy. Dr. Horton is designated as a fellow in plastic surgery of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. She has presented numerous clinical papers at national and international scientific meetings in plastic surgery and has been featured in prestigious registries for outstanding professionals such as Strathmore’s Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare and America’s Who’s Who in Medicine. 

Erin Hoschouer-Lapham is an American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists-certified sexuality educator and the director of health education at Pure Romance Inc., a woman-to-woman based business specializing in intimacy-related products and resources. She previously worked as an intern at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction in Bloomington, Indiana. Her area of graduate study included sexual health, sexuality education and intimacy after cancer. She has presented on intimacy after cancer to national organizations, survivor groups and healthcare providers for the past three years. Ms. Hoschouer-Lapham is executive director of The Patty Brisben Foundation, a nonprofit group specializing in education, community outreach and research to improve women’s health care. 

Marc Heyison is the president and co-founder of Men Against Breast Cancer, a national nonprofit organization working to empower men to be effective caregivers and targeting and mobilizing men to become active participants in the fight to eradicate breast cancer. He is the owner and president of Top Notch, Inc. and the executive director of the Gloria Heyison Breast Cancer Foundation. He is a featured speaker at the National Visions of Hope Community Speakers Bureau. In 2002, he completed the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s Project LEAD program. He received the Thomas Jefferson Award from The American Institute, one of the highest civilian volunteer awards granted in the United States. In 2007, he collaborated on For The Women We Love, a Breast Cancer Action Plan and Caregiver’s Guide For Men.

Clifford A. Hudis, MD, is chief of the Breast Cancer Medicine Service, attending physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and an associate professor of medicine at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. He is co-leader of the breast disease management team at MSKCC, co-chair of the breast committee of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B and chair of the information technology committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Since 1991, he has been a member of the Breast Cancer Medicine Service at MSKCC, where he has conducted a large number of clinical trials. His research interests include chemotherapy development, hormone therapy, novel targeted therapeutics and supportive care. Dr. Hudis is a member of the breast committees of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and serves on Living Beyond Breast Cancer’s medical advisory board. 

David L. Keefe, MD, is James M. Ingram, MD, professor and chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. He is the co-director of fertility preservation services at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute. Dr. Keefe is a diplomat and an examiner of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology with a certificate of special expertise in reproductive endocrinology and infertility. He has authored over 100 scientific papers and book chapters. His research has led to four patents on how to improve the IVF process and has earned him the General Program Prize Paper and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Prize Paper Awards of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, a Royton International Infertility Prize and two Boston Fertility Society Prize Paper Awards.

Judy C. Kneece, RN, OCN, is president of EduCare, Inc., an organization empowering women and families with educational material about their breast health. She is a certified oncology nurse specializing in breast cancer, and she has trained more than 1,900 nurses internationally as breast health navigators. She has consulted with some of the nation’s leading hospitals to develop their comprehensive breast health programs. Ms. Kneece is the author of Your Breast Cancer Treatment Handbook, a guide through the breast cancer experience, and Helping Your Mate Face Breast Cancer, a book for support partners. She is the creator of a CD-ROM featuring 356 teaching sheets on breast health for healthcare professionals. Ms. Kneece serves as an advisor to the Department of Defense National Clinical Breast Care Project headquartered at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

M. Tish Knobf, RN, PhD, FAAN, AOCN, is an American Cancer Society associate professor of oncology nursing at Yale University School of Nursing. She received the Oncology Nursing Society Excellence in Breast Cancer Education Award in 2006 and the Annie Goodrich Excellence Teaching Award at Yale School of Nursing in 2002. Her recent peer-reviewed publications include studies on exercise intervention and quality of life in people with breast cancer, the influence of endocrine effects of adjuvant therapy on quality of life in younger women affected by breast cancer and the cancer experience for Chinese-Americans.

Harriet E. Mannheim, LCSW, is a manager of supportive services at New York University Clinical Cancer Center. She manages and coordinates outpatient social work, nutrition, pain management and genetic counseling support with nursing and inpatient hospital care. She obtained lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender sensitivity training for inter-disciplinary clinical work. Ms. Mannheim is the co-chair and among the earliest members of the Lesbian Cancer Support Consortium, and she was one of the original program managers of Gilda’s Club New York City. She has received numerous honors and awards, including being named “New York City Hometown Hero” by WCBS-TV, New York City, in 2000. In 1987, then Manhattan borough president David Dinkins named November 23, 1987, “Harriet E. Mannheim Day” for her service to citizens of Community Board #2, Manhattan.

Carolyn Messner, DSW, MSW, LCSW-R, ACSW, BCD, is the director of education and training at CancerCare. A licensed clinical social worker, Dr. Messner specializes in the psychosocial impact of cancer, methods to design educational interventions to ameliorate the distress of cancer and cancer in the workplace. She pioneered the use of teleconference technology to bring information and support to people with cancer, their families, employers and healthcare professionals. Dr. Messner is an adjunct instructor at the Hunter College School of Social Work. She is chair of the psychosocial section of the American Association of Cancer Education and distinguished practitioner in Social Work, National Academies of Practice. Dr. Messner is the recipient of the Leadership in Oncology Social Work Award and Certificate of Achievement in Doctoral Research, Ohio State University, The College of Social Work.

Faith D. Ottery, MD, PhD, FACN, is the senior director of medical affairs and the medical brand leader at Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. She is the founder of the Society for Nutritional Oncology Adjuvant Therapy, an international interdisciplinary research and educational institution. Dr. Ottery developed the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment, a clinical and research tool that has been accepted as the standard in oncology by the American Diabetic Association and the Oncology Nursing Society. She is credited with defining the concepts of nutritional oncology and anabolic competence. Dr. Ottery has lectured nationally and internationally on topics related to nutritional oncology and supportive care. She is the chair of the cancer rehabilitation and survivorship study group of the Multinational Society for Supportive Care in Cancer.

Frances M. Palmieri, RN, MSN, OCN, is a clinical nurse specialist and nurse manager at the Multidisciplinary Breast Clinic and coordinator of the breast cancer program at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. She oversees research activities, clinical management and education for staff and people with breast cancer. Ms. Palmieri developed and manages ongoing educational and research programs, both at Mayo Clinic and within the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG). She developed and oversees the Mayo Clinic NCCTG affiliate research program and serves as the liaison to the NCCTG cooperative group clinical research nursing board. She has published in the field of breast cancer research and clinical patient management in peer-reviewed nursing and medical journals.

Keynote speaker Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and serves as the director of the program for young women with breast cancer in the breast oncology program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Her clinical research focuses on psychosocial, communication and survivorship issues in breast cancer, with a particular interest in the unique issues facing young women with breast cancer, including fertility concerns. Dr. Partridge serves as a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology Survivorship Task Force, Fertility Preservation Guidelines Committee and Health Services Committee. She is co-chair of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B committee on advocacy, research communication and ethics. She has received awards and grants for her research including an ASCO Career Development Award, Tracy Starr Breast Cancer Research Fund Award and Lance Armstrong Foundation Cancer Survivorship Award. She is a member of Living Beyond Breast Cancer’s medical advisory board.

Edith A. Perez, MD, is a professor of medicine at Mayo School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, and the director of the breast clinic at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. She is a member of the Mayo Clinic Women’s Cancer Program Steering Committee, director of the Cancer Clinical Study Unit at the Jacksonville Mayo Clinic and chair of the Breast Committee for the North Central Cancer Treatment Group. She serves on the scientific program committee and the cancer communications committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and as co-chair of the health care disparities task force. Dr. Perez is involved in a range of clinical trials exploring the use of new therapeutic agents for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer. She has developed studies to evaluate the role of genetic markers in the development and aggressiveness of breast cancer.

Liz Russo, MSW, LCSW, Senior Counselor/Adjunct Professor of Psychology, Center for Personal Development, Saint Peter’s College

Mary Lou Smith, JD, is a co-founder of the Research Advocacy Network, a nonprofit organization working to bring together participants in the medical research process with the focus on education, support and connecting patient advocates with the research community to improve patient care. She serves as co-chair of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group patient representative committee and the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group patient advocate committee. She serves on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Breast Cancer screening and treatment guidelines committees, the North Central Cancer Treatment Group patient advocacy committee and on the advocate core of the Department of Defense Center of Excellence for Individualization of Therapy for Breast Cancer at Indiana University. Ms. Smith is past president of theY-ME National Breast Cancer Organization. She is a 21-year breast cancer survivor.

Rebecca Sutphen, MD, is an associate professor in the departments of interdisciplinary oncology and pediatrics at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. She is the director of clinical genetics at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute and the director of the Family Cancer Genetics Network. The focus of her research is clinical cancer genetic epidemiology, specifically, heritable cancer risk, factors that modify heritable risk and development of strategies to reduce risk and improve early cancer detection. She also focuses on population-based ovarian cancer studies and the development of ovarian cancer biomarkers for early detection, accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. Dr. Sutphen is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Panel on Genetics and Familial Cancer Screening, which sets the standard of care for management of individuals with hereditary cancer risk.

Debra K. Thaler-DeMers, BSN, RN, OCN, PRN-c, is a clinical staff nurse, chemotherapy educator and end-of-life nursing education curriculum trainer at the Peterson Cancer Treatment Center at Stanford Hospital and Clinics in California. She is the founder of Cancer ACCESS: Advocacy, Counseling, Clinical Education and Survivorship Skills. Ms. Thaler-DeMers has written and lectured on the impact of managed care on the oncology setting, long-term and late effects of treatment, psychosocial impact of cancer on the family, fertility and sexuality after treatment, pain management, end-of-life care, assertiveness training and communication skills. She is one of the core team members of The Cancer Survival Toolbox, the Oncology Nursing Society and the Association of Oncology Social Workers. Ms. Thaler-DeMers is a 26-year survivor of three primary cancers.